Calligraphy Culture Introduction

Calligraphy is a traditional art unique to China. Chinese characters were created by the laboring people, starting with pictures to remember things, and after thousands of years of development, they evolved into today's writing, and because our ancestors invented writing with brushes, calligraphy came into being. Throughout the ages, writing with brushes has been the mainstay of Chinese characters, and the writing rules of other forms of writing, such as the hard brush, finger writing, etc., are not vastly different from the rules of brushes, but are basically similar to each other. Based on the principle of searching for the origin (after the oracle bone inscriptions), the focus here is on the rules of writing Chinese characters with a brush. As long as we have a "narrow" understanding of calligraphy, it will be helpful to understand the "broader sense of calligraphy".

In the narrow sense, calligraphy refers to the method and rules of writing Chinese characters with a brush. It includes the execution of the brush, strokes, dots and drawings, structure, layout (distribution, rows, chapters) and so on. For example, the pen finger real palm virtual, five fingers Qi force; pen stroke in the front of the spread of the hair; point drawing to the pen with the intention of Run crag the same; the structure of the word to form, the phase An echo; distribution intricate, sparse and dense, the virtual and real, the whole chapter through the gas; paragraph knowledge of the word ancient paragraph today, the word large paragraph small, rather high than low, and so on.

In a broad sense, calligraphy refers to the law of writing language symbols. In other words, calligraphy is in accordance with the characteristics of the text and its meaning, with its calligraphic penmanship, structure and chapter writing, so that it becomes a beautiful work of art, with the development of cultural undertakings, calligraphy is not limited to the use of brushes and writing Chinese characters, the connotation of which has greatly increased. For example, from the use of tools, only the pen this item is a variety of brushes, brushes, hard pens, computerized instruments, guns and branding tools and so on. Pigment is not only the use of black ink block, ink, adhesives, chemicals, spray paint glaze and other colorful, exotic. In the past, the four treasures - pen, ink, paper, ink stone, its meaning is also greatly expanded, the variety of varieties, to name a few; from the pen on the way to see, some of the hand pen, some of the foot pen, that is, with other organs of the pen is also not lacking in their own people, and even some people do not write with a pen at all, such as the "finger book" "From the type of writing, not a kind of Chinese characters, some ethnic minority characters have also boarded the calligraphy art, Mongolian is an example; from the style of writing and chapter, in addition to the authentic traditional school of calligraphy, in our country and the emergence of the "straight and curved (line) the same, the combination of static and dynamic," the "intention "It is the so-called modern calligraphy. It is based on the traditional calligraphy, to innovate, highlight the word "change", integration of poetry, calligraphy and painting, and strive to unify the form and content, so that the work becomes a "beauty of meaning, sound, shape" of the three beautiful masterpieces. In Japan, many calligraphers abandoned the language of the text to establish the "image" of the text, and the "ink image" school appeared to write various images of the text by using the weight and speed of the brush, the opening and closing of the brush and changes in the position of the pen. Although this school of calligraphy emphasized "imagery" and its characters were novel, not all Chinese characters were "image" characters, so it was difficult to move forward and its development was limited. All these (and of course not only these) show that calligraphy, like other things, is constantly developing and changing. This is a point that must be taken very seriously by people in the calligraphic profession.

The Origin of Calligraphy

Calligraphy is the art of writing Chinese characters. It is not only a cultural treasure of the Chinese nation, but also a unique treasure in the world's cultural and artistic treasures. In the long history of evolution and development of Chinese characters, on the one hand, it has played an important social role in the exchange of ideas and cultural inheritance, and on the other hand, it has formed a unique plastic art in itself. In recent times, it has been proved that the origin of Chinese writing is generally believed to have been created during the "Yangshao Culture" in the middle reaches of the Yellow River in China, about 5,000 or 6,000 years ago. The Yangshao Culture was first discovered in Yangshao Village, Jingshan, Henan Province, in 1921 and was named after it. In the last 40 years, many more discoveries have been made.

The writing of the world's peoples is summarized in three main types, namely, ideographic writing; ideographic writing; and phonetic writing. Chinese characters are typical ideographs developed on the basis of ideographic characters. The method of creating characters in pictographs is to draw the objects. However, the drawings became simpler and more abstract, and became symbols highlighting the characteristics of the objects, representing certain meanings and having certain pronunciations. ...... Our Chinese characters have evolved from drawings and symbols to their creation and finalization, and have gradually taken shape from the Big Seal Character in the ancient script to the Small Seal Character, and from the Seal Character to the official script, Regular script, Running script, and Cursive script. In the process of writing and applying Chinese characters, the art of calligraphy, which is unique among the scripts of the world's ethnic groups and can be categorized independently, gradually emerged.

Prehistory to summer - calligraphy born of chaos

The art of calligraphy in China began with the creation of the Chinese character, "The sound could not be transmitted to a different place and stayed in a different time, and so the characters were born. Writing is the trace of meaning and sound." Thus, words were created. The first works of the art of calligraphy were not words, but some engraved symbols - hieroglyphics or pictographs.

The incised symbols of Chinese characters first appeared on pottery. The first inscribed symbols only represented a rough and chaotic concept, with no precise meaning.

More than eight thousand years ago, the Yellow River Basin appeared in the Magnetic Hill, Fili Gang culture, in Fili Gang unearthed handmade ceramics, there are more symbols, this kind of symbols, is the ancestors of the function of communication, the function of remembering the chaotic combination of the function of the pattern decorative function, these are not the real Chinese characters, but it is indeed the prototype of Chinese characters.

Immediately following the Yangshao culture, about 6,000 years ago, at the Half Slope site, some simple painted pottery was unearthed that resembled characters. These symbols have been distinguished from floral patterns, and have taken the development of Chinese writing one step further. This can be said to be the origin of Chinese writing.

Then came the Erlitou and Erligang cultures. Erlitou culture archaeological excavations found in the pottery tablets with engraved marks, its marks **** there are twenty-four, some similar to the Yinxu oracle bone characters, are a single independent word. The Erligang culture has been found to have a writing system. Three bones with characters have been found here, two pieces with one character each and one with ten characters, which appear to have been carved for the purpose of practicing carving. This makes another big step forward for civilization.

The origin of primitive writing was an instinct of imitation, used to visualize something concrete. It was simple and chaotic, but it already had a certain aesthetic appeal. This simple writing can therefore be called prehistoric calligraphy.

Shang to Western Han--Calligraphy in order

From the Xia, Shang and Zhou Dynasties, through the Spring and Autumn Periods and the Warring States Periods, to the Qin and Han Dynasties, the development of more than 2,000 years of history also led to the development of the art of calligraphy. During this period, various calligraphic styles appeared one after another, such as oracle bone inscriptions, gold inscriptions, stone inscriptions, and handwriting of bamboo and silk, etc., among which the seal script, official script, cursive script, regular script, etc. were finalized in the screening and elimination of hundreds of miscellaneous styles, and the art of calligraphy began to develop in an orderly manner.

Introduction of various calligraphic styles

1: Oracle Bone Script

The name of a type of ancient Chinese character, which is also the most ancient existing Chinese script. Carved on the bones, first used for divination (Yin Dynasty people with tortoise shell, animal bone divination. After divination, the period of divination, the name of the diviner, and the thing divined were engraved on the side of the oracle with a knife, and in some cases, the lucky or unlucky fulfillment after a number of days was also engraved on the oracle. Scholars call this kind of record divination), which is a divination of the outcome of future events, and flourished in the Yin and Shang dynasties. Discovered in 1889, the oracle bone inscriptions were records of divination by the royal family in the late Yin and Shang dynasties, and were found in the area of Xiaotun Village in Anyang, Henan Province, more than 3,000 years ago. The oracle bone inscriptions are the first treasure in the history of Chinese calligraphy, and their strokes have variations of thickness, lightness, weight, and speed, with light and fast strokes, thick and heavy strokes, and fast and quick closing strokes, with a certain sense of rhythm. There are both square and rounded strokes at the twists and turns of the strokes, with the square ones moving craggy and the round ones soft and moist. The lines are more harmonious and fluent than those of the pottery, laying down the tone and rhythm for the art of line, which is unique to Chinese calligraphy. The oracle-bone inscriptions are long and square in shape, laying the foundation for the character type of Chinese characters. The form of oracle bone inscriptions follows the shape of the body and is natural. The chapter style varies in size, squareness and roundness, length and flatness with the shape of the characters, and is staggered in many ways but harmonious and unified. The later so-called differences and errors, interspersed to avoid, towards the hand echo, the sky and the earth, such as the principle of writing Chinese characters, in the oracle-bone script has been largely available.

2: Jinwen

The name of a writing style of ancient Chinese characters. A general term for the font of inscriptions on bronze vessels during the Shang, Western Zhou, Spring and Autumn, and Warring States periods. It flourished in the Zhou Dynasty. Jinwen is another monument in the history of Chinese calligraphy. Dependent on the bronze, the casting of tripods is intended to "make the people aware of God's treachery", so it is a religious ritual rituals. Jinwen is also known as Zhongdianwen (钟鼎文), Wushuwen (器文), and Gujinwen (古金文). And bronze cast together with the inscription lines than the oracle bone more robust, the text of the hieroglyphic meaning is also more intense, the earliest Jinwen found in the middle of the Shang Dynasty unearthed on the bronze, although not much information, the age of the Yinxu oracle bone writing earlier than. The Zhou Dynasty was the golden age of gold writing, the most excavated inscriptions.

The main works of this period are: "Li Gui", "Tian De Gui", "Dabu Ding", "Wall Plate", "Scattered Plate", "Guo Jizi White Plate". In particular, "Simuwuding", "Sanshi Disk" and "Mao Gongding" are the most famous and have the highest artistic achievement.

3: stone text

Stone text produced in the Zhou Dynasty, flourished in the Qin Dynasty. Qin carved stone text during the Eastern Zhou Dynasty. In 10 granite drum-shaped stone, each engraved with a four-character poem, the content of the song of the Qin king hunting, so it is also known as hunting Jie. Legend has it that the earliest stone carving was the Mountain Peak Stele of the Xia Dynasty, which was carved in a style similar to that of the Classic of Poetry. The font is close to the seal script contained in Shuowen Jiezi, and its calligraphy has been highly evaluated. The main works are: "stone drum text", "deduction mountain stone carving", "Taishan stone carving", "Langya stone carving", "Huiji stone carving" and so on.

4: Ink on Jane and Palm

The art of calligraphy is most important to the authenticity, but the authenticity of the calligraphy before the Qin and Han Dynasties, generally only in the Jane and Palm alliance book can be seen. Ancient simple books, mainly bamboo, braided Jane's rope with ox tendons, silk thread, hemp rope. Archaeological discovery of the earliest simple silk ink, there are the qin jian unearthed in hubei yumeng, shanxi houma unearthed in the warring states alliance book (alliance book that is written in the stone policy or jade policy on the text), changsha ma wangdui unearthed in the warring states silk book. Chinese calligraphy by oracle bone, gold, to the spring and autumn and warring states period, because of the division of the vassals, so the text since yin and shang, in the vassals of the countries embarked on a different path of development, this period, the form of calligraphy and skills also presents a hundred schools of thought. For example, the "tadpole script" of Jin in the north, and the "bird script" of Wu, Yue, Chu and Cai, etc., had more zigzags and long tails in their strokes. Spring and Autumn and Warring States period of the gold has not like the Western Zhou gold that thick form, replaced by a slender body, showing a kind of rounded beauty, such as the attack on the king of Wu Fuzha Jian. A large number of ink writings survived in this period, such as Jane, Palm, and the Book of the Covenant.

The pioneering calligraphy of the Qin Dynasty

During the Spring and Autumn and Warring States Periods, there were great differences in the scripts of various countries, which was a major obstacle to the development of economy and culture. After the unification of the country by the First Emperor of Qin, the minister Li Si presided over the unification of the national script, which was a great achievement in the history of Chinese culture. The unified script was called the Qin Seal Script, also known as the Small Seal Script, which was simplified from the Golden Script and the Stone Drum Script. Li Si, a famous calligrapher, presided over the organization of the Small Seal Script. The "Stone Carvings of Mount Yie", "Stone Carvings of Mount Tai", "Stone Carvings of Langya" and "Stone Carvings of Huiji" were written by Li Si. It has been highly evaluated in all generations. Qin Dynasty is a period of change of inheritance and innovation. The preface of the Shuowen Jiezi" said: "the Qin book has eight styles, one is said to be the big seal, two is said to be the small seal, three is said to be engraved, four is said to be the worm book, five is said to be facsimile of the seal, six is said to sign the book, seven is said to be the book, eight is said to be the book of scribes." Basically summarizes the face of the font at this time. By Li Si Qin's small seal, seal law is harsh, writing is inconvenient, so the official script appeared. "Scribe's script is the shortest form of seal script". Its purpose was to make writing easier. In the Western Han Dynasty, the Official Script completed the metamorphosis from Seal Script to Official Script, and the form changed from vertical to horizontal, and the lines and limbs became more obvious. The appearance of the official script is a great progress in the writing of Chinese characters and a revolution in the history of calligraphy, which not only makes Chinese characters square and regular, but also breaks through the single center-front stroke, laying the foundation for various styles of calligraphy in the future. In addition to the above masterpieces of calligraphy, the Qin Dynasty also produced edicts, power measures, tiles, currencies, and other texts in various styles. Qin Dynasty calligraphy, in the history of Chinese calligraphy left a brilliant page, the grandeur, can be said to be a precedent.

Seeking the degree of pursuit of rhyme - the Eastern Han Dynasty to the North and South Dynasties

Two Han calligraphy

Two Han calligraphy is divided into two major forms of expression, one for the mainstream system of Han stone carvings; one for the secondary system of the Wadang seal seal text and Jane Palm alliance book ink. "Since the latter Han Dynasty, stone tablets and jellies rise in the clouds," is the mark of the maturity of the Han Clerical Script. Among the cliff carvings (words carved on the cliffs), especially the "Ode to the Stone Gate" is the most famous, which is regarded by calligraphers as a "divine work". At the same time, Cai Shark's Jiaping Stone Scripture achieved the requirements of restoring ancient scribes and restoring the Regular Scribe. And monumental carving is the most important art form that reflects the degree and rhyme of the times, in which "Fenglongshan", "Ode to the West Narrows", "Kongzhou", "Yiying", "Shi Chen", "Zhang Qian", "Cao Quan" monuments are especially praised by the descendants to emulate. It can be said that each tablet has its own unique characteristics, and there is no one who is the same. The northern book is majestic and the southern book is simple and ancient, reflecting the different aesthetic pursuits of the "scholar" and "commoner" classes. As for the Wadang seal, simple and silk alliance book embodies the marriage of artistry and practicality.

The prosperity of the art of calligraphy began in the Eastern Han Dynasty. Specialized works on calligraphy theory appeared in the Eastern Han Dynasty, and the earliest calligrapher was Yang Xiong at the turn of the Eastern and Western Han Dynasties. The first calligraphy theory monograph was Cui Yuan's "Cursive Script Potential" during the Eastern Han Dynasty.

The calligraphers of the Han Dynasty can be divided into two categories: one is the Han Clerical Scribe, represented by Cai Yong. One is the cursive scribes, represented by Dudu, Cui Yuan, and Zhang Zhi, who was called the "Sage of Cursive" by later generations.

The most representative of the calligraphic characteristics of the Han Dynasty, no better than the calligraphy on the inscriptions and documents. The Eastern Han Dynasty was characterized by many monuments, and the monuments of this period were engraved with the Han Clerical Script, with square characters, strict laws, and distinctive tearing of limbs. At this time, the official script has reached its peak.

The Han Dynasty created cursive writing, the birth of cursive writing, in the history of the development of the art of calligraphy is of great significance. It marks the beginning of calligraphy to become a highly free expression of emotion, the expression of the calligrapher's personality art. The initial stage of cursive script was the cursive scribe, which was further developed during the Eastern Han Dynasty, resulting in the formation of the Zhang Cao (章草), and then Zhang Zhi (张芝) created the Ima Cao (今草), or Cursive Script.

Calligraphic Art of Wei, Jin and North-South Dynasties

1: Three Kingdoms Period

During the Three Kingdoms period, the official script began to land from its peak position in the Han Dynasty to derive the Regular Script, which became another mainstay of the art of calligraphy. The Regular Script, also known as Zhengshu and Zhenshu, was created by Zhong Yao. It was during the Three Kingdoms period that the Regular Script entered the history of stone carving. During the Three Kingdoms (Wei) period, the "Recommendation of Ji Zhi Table". The "Table of Declaration" and so on became treasures that have stood out for hundreds of generations.

2: the two Jin period

Jin Dynasty, in the life and affairs advocate "elegance" "Item" art and the pursuit of the beauty of the light, calligraphy everyone, the letter for more than two Wang (Wang Xizhi. Wang Xianzhi), elegant and sparse. (Wang Xianzhi) Yan put sparse and wonderful taste in art catered to the requirements of the scholars, people more and more realize that the written word, there is an aesthetic value. The most representative of the spirit of the Wei and Jin dynasties, the most influential calligrapher in the history of calligraphy is Wang Xizhi, known as the "Sage of Calligraphy". Wang Xizhi's "Lanting Preface" is known as "the world's first line of calligraphy," theorists say that its penmanship thought to float like floating clouds, as if the dragon, his son, Wang Xianzhi's "Luoshen Fu" word law end of the strong, the creation of the "broken body" and "one book His son Wang Xianzhi's "Luoshen Fu" was written in a strong style, and he created the "Broken Style" and "One Stroke Calligraphy", which made a great contribution to the history of calligraphy. With the addition of Lu Ji, Wei Jin, Suo Jing, Wang Guan, Xie An, Jian Liang, and other calligraphic families, the Southern School of Calligraphy flourished. In the Southern Song Dynasty, the Yang Xin, Qi's Wang Shengqi, Liang's Xiao Ziyun, and Chen's Zhiyong all followed in their footsteps.

When the calligraphy of the two Jin dynasties was at its peak, it was mainly manifested in running script, which is a typeface between cursive and regular script. The masterpieces of the two Jin dynasties are the "Sanxi" (三希), which are the "Bo Yuan Post" (伯远帖), the "Quick Snow Post" (快雪時晴帖), and the "Mid-Autumn Post.

3: North and South Dynasties

During the North and South Dynasties, the art of Chinese calligraphy entered the era of northern monuments and southern posts.

The North Dynasty inscriptions calligraphy, to the Northern Wei, Eastern Wei, the most refined, and colorful style. Representatives of the "Zhang Manglong monument", "Jing Envoy monument". Representatives of the monument: "grass thousands of subtext". North Dynasty praise for the ancestors, showing the family business, engraved stone for more, such as the north of the southern post, the north of the south line, the north of the south of the soil, the north of the south of the Xiong Xiu are based on the difference.

If the North and South schools of masterpieces, is the South Liang "Crane Inscription". Northern Wei "Zheng Wengong monument" can be called the North and South double star, the North School writers are mostly common people, the book does not have a name, so the calligraphy when the crown, known as "the book of the Saint", the North School of Wang Youjun.

Seeking rules and regulations - Sui, Tang and Five Dynasties

Sui-Dynasty Calligraphy

The Sui Dynasty ended the chaos of the North and South Dynasties, united China, and after the Tang is a more stable period of time, the development of the Southern Poster and Northern Tablet to the Sui and mixed with the same stream, formally completing the Regular Script of the form of the book history of the position of the precedent and initiator. The Sui Regular Script inherited the history of the two Jin and the North and South Dynasties. Under the opening of the Tang Dynasty norms of the new situation, Sui has a tablet version of the survivors, most of the real book, divided into four styles:

1: Pingzheng Chunhe, such as Ding Daogui's "Kai Fa Temple Monument" and so on

2: harsh square and precise, such as the "Dong Meiren epitaph" and so on

3: deep and rounded, such as the "Xinxing Zen Shi Tower Inscription" and so on

4: XiuLang fine such as the "Longzang Temple Monument" and so on.

The Tang Dynasty, the heyday of calligraphy

1: Introduction to Tang Dynasty calligraphy

The Tang Dynasty culture was profound and brilliant, reaching the highest peak of China's feudal culture, and it can be said that "the book to the beginning of the Tang Dynasty and the most flourishing". Tang Dynasty ink has been handed down to the present day than the previous generation, a large number of tablets left a valuable calligraphy works. Throughout the Tang Dynasty, calligraphy was both inherited and innovated. Regular script, running script, cursive development to the Tang Dynasty have crossed into a new situation, the characteristics of the era is very prominent, the influence on future generations far more than any previous era.

At the beginning of the Tang Dynasty, the country was strong, calligraphy from the six dynasties in the remains of the law out of the Regular Script to Ouyang Xun. Yu Shinan. Chu Suiliang, Xue Ji, Ouyang Tong four calligraphy mainstream. The total characteristics of the structure is rigorous and neat, so future generations on the book has a "Tang heavy inter-frame" said, a moment honored as "the crown of the ink" extended to the Sheng Tang song and dance, Confucianism and Taoism combined, Li Yong change the right army line method, unique, Zhang Xu, Huaisu to the crazy drunkenness will be the expression of cursive to the extreme, Sun over the court of cursive. Extreme, Sun over the court of cursive is to Confucian elegance, and the rest, such as He Zhizhang, Li Longji also strive to create a true rate of razor sharp, the bones of the new realm of abundance of beautiful. And Yan Zhenqing out of the ancient method in the new idea, born in the new method outside the ancient idea. Dong Qichang said that the Tang Dynasty book to take the law, Lugong Da prepared. To the late Tang and the Five Dynasties, the country turned to decline, Shen Chuan Shi. Liu Gongquan changed the regular script again. To lean and strong, exposed to the bone of self-respect. Further enriched the law of the Tang Regular Script, to the Five Dynasties, Yang Ningshi both Yan Liu's long. On the capsule of the two kings, the side of the front to take the state, spread millimeters of force, so in the time of turmoil and uniqueness of the image of peace, but also for the Tang book of the return of the light. At the time of the Five Dynasties, the wind of Zen madness blaze, which also affects the world of calligraphy, "mad Zen calligraphy" is not in the Five Dynasties a significant scale, but the impact of calligraphy on the Song Dynasty is not small.

The art of calligraphy in the Tang Dynasty, can be divided into three periods: the early Tang, the Middle Tang, and the late Tang. Inheritance of the early Tang Dynasty, respect for the law, deliberately pursuing the Jin Dynasty calligraphy of the strength of the United States. The Middle Tang continued to innovate, extremely prosperous. Late Tang calligraphy has also made progress.

The highest school of the Tang Dynasty, there are six, namely, the State Council, the Imperial College, the four schools, law, calligraphy, arithmetic. One of the book learning, specializing in language raising calligraphers and calligraphy theorists, is the creation of the Tang Dynasty. Famous artists came out in different dynasties and were as brilliant as stars. Such as the early Tang Ouyang Xun, Yu Shinan, Chu Suiliang, etc.; in the Tang Yan Zhenqing, Liu Gongquan, etc., are calligraphy. In the late Tang Dynasty, there are Wang Wenbing's seal script, Li Osprey's regular script and Yang Ningshi's "Two Wangs, Yan and Liu" aftermath.

Sui-Tang Five Dynasties Calligraphy can be divided into three stages

(1) Sui to early Tang

Sui united China, the North and South Dynasties of the cultural and artistic compatibility of the inclusion of the beginning of the Tang Dynasty, the political prosperity, the art of calligraphy gradually from the legacy of the Six Dynasties of the method of cicadas, to reveal a new posture. In the beginning of the Tang Dynasty, the Regular Script was the main stream, and the general characteristic was the strict and neat structure.

(2): Sheng Tang, Middle Tang stage

The calligraphy of the Sheng Tang period, such as the social situation at that time to pursue a romantic and forgetful way. Such as "upside down Zhang drunken Su" (Zhang Xu, Huai Su) of the wild grass, Li Yong's running script. In the Middle Tang Dynasty, the Regular Script once again made a new breakthrough. Represented by Yan Zhenqing, the standard for the Regular Script was laid down, a model was set, and the Regular Script became orthodox. By this time, the Chinese calligraphic style had been fully defined.

(3): Late Tang and Five Dynasties stage of the survival of the Tang legacy

Ninety-seven years in the West, Zhu Quanzhong, a renegade destroyed the Tang, the establishment of Houliang, and thus the successor to the latter Tang, the latter Jin, the latter Han, and the latter Zhou, known as the Five Dynasties. As a result of the weakening of the state and the chaos, culture and art are also downhill trend. Although the art of calligraphy continued from the end of the Tang Dynasty, it formed a general trend of withering and decline due to the influence of fire and war. During the Five Dynasties, Yang Ningshi was the most praiseworthy calligrapher. His calligraphy was the mainstay of the Five Dynasties, when calligraphy was in decline. There were also other accomplished calligraphers such as Li Yu and Yan Xiu. At this point, the Tang Dynasty, the solemn and rigorous style of calligraphy has been aborted, after the Northern Song Dynasty, "four" following the rise, and set off a new era of waves.

Shang Yi Xuan feelings - Song to Ming

Song Dynasty calligraphy

Song Dynasty calligraphy Shang Yi, this is Zhu Da advocating the science of the result, the connotation of the meaning of the intention, including four points: a philosophical, the second book, the third stylized, the fourth mood performance, while mediating the individuality of calligraphy creation and originality. These are reflected in the calligraphy, if the Sui, Tang and Five Dynasties of Shangfa, is the embodiment of the "work", then expired in the Song Dynasty, calligraphy began to a new face of Shangyi lyricism in front of the world. This is to Edward the calligrapher in addition to having a "natural" "work" at two levels, but also need to have "knowledge" that is, "scrolls of gas! "The four Northern Song dynasty changed the appearance of the Tang Dynasty. Directly Jin posting the legacy of the book.

Unrecognized as both highly gifted Cai Xiang and Su Dongpo, or high regard for the ancients of Huang Tingjian and Xiaoshan Qiqi dangerous Mi Fu, are trying to express their own calligraphic style at the same time, highlighting a new and innovative gesture, so that the gas of learning is lush and luxuriant in the ink and pen, and give a new aesthetic mood, which in the Southern Song Dynasty, Wu said. Zhao Ji. Lu You. Fan Chengda, Zhu Xi, Wen Tianxiang and other writers to further extend, but the Southern Song calligrapher's learning and ink and brush skills can not be compared with the Northern Song four. Song dynasty calligraphers are represented by Su, Huang, Mi, Cai.

Yuan calligraphy

Yuan dynasty economic and cultural development is not great, the calligraphy of the general situation is the reverence for retro, the law of Jin, Tang and less innovation. Although politically the Yuan dynasty is a foreign rule, but culturally assimilated into the Han culture, and the Song is not always the pursuit of different moods, the Yuan dynasty's intention to deliberately seek to work in the pursuit of the beauty of the open style, so Su Shi boasts of "my book intention to create this can not be," Zhao Mengfu advocate of "not easy to use the pen for thousands of years! "The former pursued the idea of being spontaneous, while the latter emphasized the idea of being intentional. The central figure of the Yuan Dynasty was Zhao Mengfu, who created the "Zhao Style" of the Regular Script and the Ou Style of the Tang Regular Script. Yan Style. Liu Style, known as the Four Scripts, became the main calligraphic styles copied by later generations. Since Zhao Mengfu's calligraphic thought was absolutely not one step beyond that of the two kings, his calligraphy had a unique comprehension of the essence of the Wang School of Calligraphy, which was manifested in the style of "warmth, leisure and elegance" and "show, research and elegance". This is also related to his belief in Buddhism. This is also related to his belief in Buddhism, and his aesthetic tendency towards the transcendent state of floating to obtain a kind of spiritual liberation. In the Yuan Dynasty, there were also other famous calligraphers, such as Xian Yushu and Deng Wenyuan, who were not as accomplished as Zhao Mengfu, but had their own unique calligraphic styles. They advocated the same method of calligraphy and painting, and emphasized the physical form of the characters.

Throughout the Yuan Dynasty, calligraphy was characterized by the "respect for the past", and the greatest achievements were in cursive writing. As for the seal script, although there were a few famous artists, they were not very outstanding. It was not until the Qing Dynasty that the mainstream of calligraphy was dominated by running script and cursive script. The style of calligraphy in the Yuan dynasty was still based on the Song Dynasty, with the Thessalonian style, and the Tang and Jin dynasties, which were not able to establish themselves in the calligraphic world with their own methods, and were much less successful than the artistic disciplines such as literature and painting.

Ming Dynasty Calligraphy

The development of calligraphy in the Ming Dynasty was manifested in three stages:

1: The first stage - early Ming Dynasty

Early Ming Dynasty Calligraphy, "a word of ten thousand the same", "Taigu style" prevailed. Shen Du Xuechuan brothers to push the work of the stable lowercase to the extreme. "Where the gold plate and jade book, used in the court, hiding the secret house, issued by the state, must be ordered to the book", the two Shen calligraphy was pushed as a model for the imperial examinations. In the early Ming Dynasty, there were Liu Ji, who was good at cursive writing, Song Bibi, who was good at lower case calligraphy, Song Sui, who was good at seal script, and Zhu Ke, who was famous for his Zhang Cao (章草). And Zhu Yunming, Wen Hui Ming, Wang Favored "three sons".

2: The second stage - the middle of the Ming

In the middle of the Ming Dynasty, the four Wuzhong schools rose to prominence, and calligraphy began to develop in the direction of the Shang state. Zhu Yunming, Wen Zhengming, Tang Yin, Wang Favour four children according to Zhao Mengfu and up through the Jin and Tang dynasties, to take the law is high; the tone of the brush is also a generation, which is related to the liberation of the ideological concepts of the pioneering at that time, calligraphy began to step into the advocacy of personalization of the new realm.

3: The third stage - the end of the Ming Dynasty

The late Ming calligraphy world emerged as a wave of critical thinking, the pursuit of calligraphy on a large scale, shocking visual effects, side of the front to take the trend, horizontal and vertical smear, full of smoke and clouds, so that the original order of calligraphy began to disintegrate; these representatives of the calligrapher Zhang Ruitu, Huang Daozhou, Wang Duoduo, Ni Yuanrui, and so on. Dong Qichang, the champion of the Thessalonians, still adhered to the traditional position.

Lyrical and rational - Ming to Qing

The end of the Ming and Qing dynasties, the main trend of aesthetics to lyrical and rational as a banner, the pursuit of individuality and the promotion of rationality combined with each other, the orthodox classical aesthetics and the pursuit of new aesthetics and the prevalence of new aesthetics. The overall tendency of Qing calligraphy is still quality, and at the same time divided into two major periods of development of postal and monumental studies.

The late Ming calligraphy scene was characterized by a wave of unrestrained ink and brushwork, a wild and unrestrained style of writing, and a cynical atmosphere. In the early Qing Dynasty, the trend of indignation was further extended, such as Zhu Fushan and other people's works still show their inner life and an unavoidable emotional expression. This is once again seen in the "Eight Monsters of Yangzhou" in the middle of the Qing Dynasty. At the same time, the late Ming Dynasty's Thessalonian system was also further developed at the same time, Jiang Ying, Zhang Zhao, Liu Yong, Wang Wenzhi, Liang Tongshu, Weng Fangzang, etc. While deliberately respecting the tradition, they tried to show a new look, or write with light ink, or change the structure of the chapters, etc. However, due to the long period of inheritance of the Thessalonian system, the works were still showing the inner life and a kind of unquenchable emotion. But due to the long period of inheritance of postal science, not well cleaned up, recognize, adjust, some kind of accumulated shortcomings are deepening, which makes the decadence of postal science inevitably appeared.

It is at this time, gold and stone unearthed more than the day, the scholar from the keen on shakuji to engage in the gold and stone evidence of the study, a moment inside and outside the countryside, the study of the monument only tend to rush, and finally became the development of the Qing calligraphy democratic stream, coupled with Ruan Yuan, Bao Shichen. With Ruan Yuan, Bao Shichen, and Kang Youwei's vigorous promotion, the study of stele existed as a system of calligraphy that rivaled the study of post. At that time, famous calligraphers such as Jin Nong, Deng Shiru, He Shaoji, Zhao Zhiqian, Wu Changshuo, Zhang Yuzhao, Kang Youwei, etc. used the meaning of stele to write and paint, and achieved the fullness of their nature and reason. The situation is brilliant. Can be said to be a landscape of Chinese calligraphy culture. If the post scientists strive to find the quality of the desire did not materialize, then this desire in the monumental science there realized.

Chinese calligraphy is an ancient art, evolving from oracle bone inscriptions, gold inscriptions to the big seal script, small seal script, official script, to the stereotypes in the Eastern Han Dynasty, the Wei Dynasty, Jin Dynasty, cursive script, regular script, and running script, calligraphy has always been exuding the charm of art.

Chinese calligraphy has a long history, reflecting the spirit of the times in different styles, and the art is always youthful. Browsing through the calligraphy of the past dynasties, "the Jin people still rhyme, the Tang people still method, the Song people still meaning, the Yuan and Ming people still state". Tracing the trajectory of the development of calligraphy over the past three thousand years, we can clearly see that it has synchronized with the development of Chinese society and strongly reflected the spirit of each era. The art of calligraphy is a unique treasure in the world and a splendid flower of Chinese culture. The art of calligraphy is the most typical reflection of the beauty of oriental art and the excellence of oriental culture, and it is an art treasure that our nation should be proud of forever. It has a deep mass base and artistic characteristics that are unparalleled in any art in the world. The art of calligraphy is more and more favored by everyone.

The staging of the history of Chinese calligraphy, from the general division, can be Yan Zhenqing in the Tang Dynasty as a demarcation point, previously known as the "period of evolution of the calligraphic style", and later known as the "period of stylistic change". During the period of evolution of calligraphic style, the development of calligraphy was mainly oriented to the evolution of calligraphic style, and the display of calligraphers' artistic style was often associated with calligraphic style. During the period of stylistic change, the calligraphic style was already in place, so there was no need to create a new typeface. So the calligrapher puts forward the idea of "Shangyi", "style" has been fixed, and "meaning" is alive, which further strengthens the author's main role.